Year of the Spark: December 8
by Sparky Army
Summary: At least he had something beautiful to remember her.


_We, the Sparky Army, decree 2008 to be the Year of the Spark. We pledge to post a new sparky story or chapter of a sparky story every day from January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2008. Though the Powers That Be have removed Elizabeth Weir from the regular cast of Stargate Atlantis, we feel that she remains an integral part of the show, and that the relationship between her and John Sheppard is too obvious to be ignored. We hope that you and anyone might happen to read these works, agree. _

_And if that isn't official enough for you, we don't know what is. Seriously, guys, we're just trying to have some --and show TPTB that Sparky is the way to go. So sit back and enjoy the 366 stories coming your way!_

**AN (sparkly): **So this is probably an overdone fic, but I wrote it for English and thought, hey, why not post it? Although it is tweaked a bit. Enjoy.

**Picture Perfect**

**By sparklyshimmer2010**

He sat numbly on the bench that was on the balcony, listening to the calming sound of the ocean as it flowed around the city. He was calm, but not happy. He felt ineffable sadness pull at his heart. He was unable to evade the pain of her death. In actuality, the calm only reminded him of her, of how she used to come out here to think. He looked up at the two moons.

It was ridiculous really, that something like this had happened to her and not him. He was usually the one in trouble, not her. And it had been his fault that she had been in trouble in the first place. If only he had listened to her when she had implored him to change his decision. If he hadn't listened to Ellis… He had taken much offense at the Colonel's words, but not said much. He should have defended her more, even if he was subordinate to the strict man. He she was naturally rebellious, so why wasn't he when she should have been? It was the woman he cared for the most that they were talking about, the woman he should have trusted.

And now she was gone. Just yesterday she had given up her life for theirs.

Stargate Command had already been apprised, but he couldn't imagine how he was going to tell her mother. But it was definitely something he felt he had to do. But she _was not_ dead. No, he refused to believe that. And so there would be no memorial. He didn't think he could stand to listen to another dirge. Not after Carson's death.

A year ago Atlantis had been his own personal utopia – now, without her, it was living hell. But he needed to be strong, needed to be in good shape to work at top capability as military commander.

Elizabeth often was the one to keep him grounded… He remembered the passion they'd had in their relationship. He clearly remembered that first, tentative kiss.

It was hours that he had been sitting there before Teyla came out to see him. She was the only one who could help him feel better, with her caring nature and proclivity for knowing exactly what to say. Ronon wasn't that good at stuff like that, rarely speaking more than a few words and he'd often felt the need to hit Rodney whenever it was his turn of his friends to come and try to console him. He preferred to be left alone in his despondency. In this picture perfect scene.

This new planet really was beautiful. With the two moons in the clear, untarnished blue sky, a perfect midnight black with twinkling stars. The ocean was a blue that matched the city and on this day purplish mist was coming off in the distance, creating a haze over New Lantea's mainland. It was something anyone would have been amazed at. Though it seemed more amazing tonight. It would have been romantic - had he been there with someone.

It was still only the night after she was gone and it just seemed so unreal. He really did wish he could capture this scene for her. So that _when_ he found her back, he could share it with her. As much as he tried to convince himself though, he wasn't honestly sure that he believed that they would get her back. He knew they would probably keep her alive, but then what would she suffer?

They didn't have many photos of Atlantis. Camera's weren't technically allowed and were occasionally smuggled in. Zelenka – who was a bit clueless when it came to security clearance – had brought one after their return to Earth. He had sneaked a picture of Elizabeth with it once, when she was laughing with Teyla, who you could just see the side of in the capture, but the frame was filled with Elizabeth's sparkling eyes and happy face. Elizabeth had been furious though. The camera had been destroyed and she had taken the picture. John had taken it from her bottom desk drawer when they got together.

He always had this last photo taken of her. It was only one of two he had. Just like Elizabeth's father's fob watch had given her some comfort, the photo gave him some. The other one he kept next to his bed, but this one was always in his front shirt pocket. There was something about it that made him feel better when he took it out to gaze at.

The picture had been taken of her just two weeks before she went MIA. He had seen plenty of photos of the friends and colleagues he'd lost and one thing always remained the same. It was as if the person knew it would be the last memory captured. It was as if they wanted to give everyone something joyous and peaceful to remember. Last photos always held the most beautiful smiles.


End file.
